Narratives of Immigration:

Community interpreting as a right/rite of
passage

November 23, 2018

Venue
Aristotle University Research Dissemination Center (KEDEA)

The Laboratory of Narrative Research and the Laboratory of
Translation, Interpreting and Communication, with the support of AIIC
Greece-Cyprus will organize a symposium in 2018 which will focus on the
process of narrativising migrant displacement. In recent years an
unprecedented wave of immigrants has been flooding the countries of
southern Europe. The problem of communicating their narratives to
different state bodies (law enforcement and asylum authorities, courts,
schools) has been a major issue for both the immigrants and the host
countries. Community interpreting is the only channel through which
these people can pass their stories to the host community, at moments
that can prove catalytic for their lives and the lives of their families.
This symposium intends to explore this channel of communication from
different perspectives. In different “rites of passages” – police
interrogations, asylum hearings, court proceedings – interpreting gives
these people a “right of passage” that will allow them to continue their
lives.